Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
Sci Total Environ. 2017 Jan 1;575:358-366. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.228. Epub 2016 Oct 13.
The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) is widely accepted as the most substantial and ambitious piece of European environmental legislation to date. It has been referred to as a once in a generation opportunity to restore Europe's waters and a potential template for future environmental regulations. However, fifteen years since it was adopted, and with many problems and delays in its implementation, the WFD has not delivered its main objectives of non-deterioration of water status and the achievement of good status for all EU waters. Putting aside the daunting technical and organisational challenges of its implementation, this paper aims to shed light on why the great expectations that came with the WFD have not yet been fully realised. It reviews how the Directive has been interpreted, focusing on its intentions and how they were applied. The findings reveal the absence of the paradigm shift towards the systems (integrated) thinking that the WFD was grounded on, as a fundamental problem with its implementation. This is also evident in cases where the Directive has been criticised as a policy tool or when implementation efforts were reviewed, indicating misunderstandings even of its core principles. This inherent departure from the Directive's systemic intention and methodological approach needs further investigation, as it could be the reason behind many of its problems and delays. Unless current implementation efforts are reviewed or revised in light of this, enabling the paradigm shift required to ensure a more sustainable and holistic approach to water management, the fading aspirations of the initial great expectations that came with the Directive could disappear for good.
《2000 年水框架指令》（WFD）被广泛认为是迄今为止欧洲最具实质性和雄心壮志的环境法规。有人将其称为欧洲恢复水资源的千载难逢的机会，也是未来环境法规的潜在模板。然而，自该指令通过 15 年以来，由于实施过程中存在许多问题和延误，WFD 并未实现其主要目标，即水状况不恶化和所有欧盟水域达到良好状况。本文抛开实施该指令面临的艰巨的技术和组织挑战，旨在阐明为何 WFD 带来的巨大期望尚未完全实现。它审查了指令是如何被解释的，重点关注其意图以及如何应用这些意图。研究结果揭示了一个根本性问题，即指令所基于的系统（综合）思维范式并未得到实施，这也是指令实施中存在的问题和延误的一个主要原因。这在指令被批评为政策工具或实施工作受到审查的情况下尤为明显，表明甚至对其核心原则也存在误解。这种对指令系统意图和方法的固有背离需要进一步调查，因为这可能是其许多问题和延误的原因。除非当前的实施工作根据这一点进行审查或修订，否则指令最初带来的远大期望所带来的美好愿望可能会永远消失。
